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Former fire chief blasts planned station closing

A former Evanston fire chief, Greg Klaiber, is sharply criticizing plans to close one of the city's five fire stations as part of broader cuts to balance the city's 2019 budget

In a message posted on his Facebook page, Klaiber says he can't support elimination of nearly 10 percent of the city's firefighter/paramedic positions.

Klaiber, who since his retirement from the city has worked as director of emergency management at Northwestern University, says that last year about 11 percent of the calls for service in the city came from within Station 4's protection district.

A call this morning to Evanston's current fire chief, Brian Scott, for comment on Klaiber's views, wasn't immediately returned.

This retired firefighter is an example of the problem. He retired as a firefighter with a nice pension and has another job. Close down firehouses and reduce firefighters. It is the only way since wages and pensions cannot be reduced.